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By Rome Jorge
We live in the age of the
shopping mall. We live our lives there. You can have your workout,
your liposuction procedure, your tarot reading sessions and even
your holy communion as well shopping at all in one place. Art too
has found its place among our temples to unabated consumerism
side-by-side cinemas, spas, shoe stores and sushi bars. To bring art
to the people, it’s got to be there. And for them to take note and
buy into it, you’ve got to supersize it.
Benedicto Cabrera, Wig Tysmans,
Jaime Zobel, Bien Bautista, Quincy Castillo, Emil Davocol, Pancho
Escaler and Jojo Guingona, have blown up their imagination with
Large 8, a photo exhibit of 16 abstract works, each 6 feet by 10
feet, that will travel SM Shopping Malls starting with the Mall of
Asia. Curiously, the exhibit brought together mall magnates Zobel
and Henry Sy.
Size changes everything. Art must
fit its size. Size is the voice with which an artist speaks, the
lens with which he sees his world and the stage with which he plays
with our minds. Size determines medium, technique, composition,
exhibit space, subject matter, audience and motive. Understanding
the context which size entails allows us to understand art better.
With art that is small, the
experience is intimate and the focus is on its intricacies. It
entices one to come closer. Its subject matter is often humane and
at times humble but not necessarily any less noble. In art as well
as in life, eloquence is at times best spoken softly. Art that is
small is also more saleable; it is art that fits the homes, offices
and galleries of patrons. Art that can be picked up can be bought on
the spot and it can be created with no particular buyer in mind or
even no particular desire to sell.
Art that is beyond the human
scale challenges us to take a step back and see the big picture. It
suits dramatic, sweeping movements, entails large art spaces and
favors epic subjects. Like smaller works, gigantic pieces challenge
us to see them for ourselves; printed pictures cannot capture their
immensity. Gigantic art makes grand statements. The capital for an
art piece’s creation and the cost of its upkeep also determines
its creative process. A large art piece is most often a commissioned
work where patrons such as tycoons, governments and commercial
sponsors have a say from its inception. Artists working on
commissioned works are freed from the temptation of pandering to the
rabble and their tastes. More than one person has a hand in its
creation. Besides financial and logistical benefactors, an artist
needs craftsmen and protégés to complete his gargantuan task.
Thus, with so many involved, there less tendency for an artist to be
indulgent and more opportunity for a truly community experience.
However, with technology, art can
now be intensely personal yet gargantuan. With the Large 8 exhibit,
the personal vision of each artist was simply printed in large
format.
Art, be it a megalith or a
handful, needs to connect to its audience. The artists have come to
us. They are speaking to us powerfully. It’s time we take a step
back, look the big picture, and see the intricacies of our own
lives.
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